Clinton "very concerned" by Zimbabwe impasse

By Sue Pleming

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is "very concerned" by Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's refusal to reach a power-sharing deal with his opponents and wants South Africa to put more pressure on him, the State Department said on Monday.

State Department spokesman Robert Wood said Clinton, the former first lady and senator from New York, was "very focussed" on the political stalemate in Zimbabwe and was looking at what could be done to ease the crisis.

"We're very troubled by the fact that the Mugabe regime refuses to negotiate seriously with the opposition," Wood told reporters.

"Senator Clinton is very focussed on this issue. She is very concerned about it. Obviously we are going to be reviewing the situation in southern Africa to see what we can do," he added.

Zimbabwe's economy is in ruins with runaway inflation and a cholera epidemic has killed nearly 2,900 people since August.

Regional leaders meeting in South Africa this week have failed so far to get Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai to implement a power-sharing deal.

Mugabe and Tsvangirai signed an agreement in September but cannot agree on control of cabinet posts, with neither side showing any sign of compromise.

Wood urged the SADC (Southern African Development Community) regional bloc, and particularly South Africa, to do more to get both sides to reach an arrangement.